ARTOPIA
At OPSS, we believe that Visual Arts is essential to the students’ holistic development. Art encourages creative thinking, self-expression, socio-emotional learning, critical thinking, problem solving and an appreciation of the world and life. This is in line with the school’s mission and vision which seeks to develop OPSS students into resourceful, confident, responsible, compassionate and cultured young men and women of integrity (See Annex 1 for OPSS Mission, Vision and Values). With the proposed Visual Arts Niche Programme, ART OP IA , the school will be able to offer a “whole-brain” schooling experience that integrates Innovation & Enterprise (I&E), National Education (NE) and Character Development (CD) through Visual Arts that differentiates OPSS from other schools in an increasingly diversified educational landscape.
Rationale
The choice of Visual Arts as our niche area is based on our belief that :-
(1) Visual Arts complements the school’s robust academic programme by developing, in our students, “whole brain” thinking skills. As presented in the 2006 2 nd Curriculum Forum for Principals, there is a need to rebalance schools’ curriculum that has traditionally emphasised mathematics and science with aesthetics. This is enable schools to develop, in our students, both left- and right-brain thinking skills needed in a new economy shaped by forces of globalisation and technology. While the school has done well academically by achieving Academic Value-Added (Silver) for Express for the past two years, an additional focus on Visual Arts will give an extra dimension to our curriculum to better harness the full range of our students’ talents. This will better prepare our students in the future where students need to thrive on chaos and manage ambiguity. Through a Visual Arts programme, students learn project management, reflection skills and the creation process when performing coursework, evaluation skills when performing self or peer critique of art pieces and a holistic approach towards problem solving as opposed to a step-by-step approach emphasised in mathematics and science programmes.
(2) Visual Arts is a natural vehicle for the school to integrate Innovation & Enterprise (I&E), National Education (NE) and Character Development (CD) and thus develop our students holistically. Through various projects, students have the opportunity to learn Visual Arts in an authentic context that seamlessly integrates elements of I&E, NE and CD. For instance, every year, the entire Sec 1 cohort embarks on a Visual Arts project that requires them to collectively create an art piece that will be presented to the school. The creation process entails the development of I&E attributes and embodies school values such as responsibility, diligence and creativity. At the same time, the project instils, in students, a sense of pride and belonging to the school. Another notable example is Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) purchase of students’ artwork as corporate souvenirs for their overseas guest speakers (the proceeds of the sale were used to help needy students). During the creation process, the students explored extensively themes that capture the essence of Singapore and the fact that STB actually deemed their artwork worthy as souvenirs is a glowing testimony to the successful and meaningful amalgamation of NE, I&E and CD in this project.
(3) Visual Arts is a major strength of the school. The OPSS Art department has, over the years, achieved acclaim and acknowledgement for the quality of its Art programme. First and foremost, the department has consistently achieved stellar results for the GCE “O” Level examinations since the pioneer batch of students took their exams in 2002. From 2002 to 2008, the Art students have performed “Above Expectation” every year according to the PRISM analysis.
In addition, OPSS Art students have, over the short history of the school, improved their showing at the biennial Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) Art & Crafts Exhibition. In 2004, the students achieved 1 Silver award, in 2006, they achieved a highly commendable 1 Gold with Honours, 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze awards and in 2008, they sustained the highly commendable achievements of 2 Gold and 1 Bronze Awards. OPSS has built a strong reputation for the quality of their students’ art pieces and design work.
For instance, various student art pieces have been selected by MOE HQ to be presented by our political leaders to foreign dignitaries. Also, our students designed and produced 5,000 copies of feedback brochures for MOE Customer Service. The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) purchased $1500 worth of OPSS artwork for their Singapore Education Opening Ceremony on 27th Oct 2005 .
Furthermore, OPSS Art teachers have shared their expertise at various professional platforms and HOD Pupil Development/Art, Mdm Victoria Loy, a finalist in President Award for Teachers 2005 and a National Day Efficiency Medalist 2006. She also served as a member in the SYF Art Exhibition organizing committee in 2000, 2002 and 2006. All these achievements bear compelling testimony to the strength and robustness of the school’s Art programme and to the quality and professionalism of its Art teachers.
Sustainability
ARTOPIA seeks to deliver an integrated “whole brain” Orchid Park (OP) schooling experience that is Accessible to all students, Relevant to students, Talent- and interest-driven, Integrated and carried out in a Authentic context supported by partnerships :-
Accessible to all students
The school makes a deliberate attempt to create an ambience for all students to immerse in and appreciate the Visual Arts. Currently there is the Open Gallery, a three-level gallery that showcases students’ artwork and the Art Hub, an open-concept classroom cum paint studio that doubles as an art demonstration space and interaction area for Art related discussion. In addition, paintings are displayed along many corridors of the school. At the lower secondary, all students of the three streams are exposed to art using the different media, namely two-dimensional, three-dimensional and IT in the Art Instructional Programme. This allows the students to experience and appreciate Art in a variety of media and, in the process, discover their talents and interests.
Relevant to students
As explained in the earlier section, Visual Arts is highly relevant in that it develops students in a well-rounded manner and prepares them for the future. Furthermore, the Visual Arts programme will be delivered based on the needs of the students as illustrated in the next part.
Talent- and interest-driven
Students with exceptional talent in Art would be shortlisted to be in the Art Club. These students will be groomed to participate in local art competitions and their art work will be exhibited in the school for the benefit of the general student population. Visits to outstanding local and overseas visual arts schools and institutions will be organised to promote interest in the visual arts whereby student participants will share their learning with the school upon their return.
Besides promoting an interest and awareness of Art through exhibitions, trips and sharing, the Art Instructional Programme is designed to give all lower secondary students exposure to the various media in Art. This enables students to ascertain their strength and interest in a particular medium of Art which they can pursue at upper secondary levels.
Integrated
In OPSS, there is a natural integration of Art with National Education (NE), Innovation & Enterprise (I&E), Information Technology (IT) and Service Learning (SL). IT is infused in with the introduction of Digital Art as an additional art medium to be included in the lower secondary Art Instructional Programme. I&E infused through the conceptualisation and design process for Visual Arts projects and coursework as well as the “commercialisation” process of art pieces using the platform of “Orchid Park Studio” – OPSS’s very own design house. Orchid Park Studio has spawned many projects that infuse SL and NE such as the ones involving Singapore Tourism Board (STB), Handicaps Welfare Association (HWA) and Christalite Methodist Home projects. Art is also being infused in other academic subjects such as English, Mother Tongue and Literature.
Authentic learning supported by partnerships
The context for Visual Arts education is made authentic as far as possible. Opportunities are made available for students to use Art as a channel to perform Service Learning so as to enable students to appreciate the relevance of Art. For instance, OPSS engages the Handicaps Welfare Association (HWA) and Institute of Mental Health (IMH) to provide Service Learning opportunities via mural painting experience. Another example is the OPSS ArtReach, an outreach cum SL programme for upper primary students from selected schools in Yishun. Orchid Park Studio and “Le Shoppe”, the school’s cooperative, provide avenues for students’ ideas and work to be brought to fruition with the support of partners such as MOE HQ and STB. External exhibitions are organised to showcase students’ art work in collaboration with the National Arts Council’s Artist-in-Residence scheme so that students learn first-hand from practitioners the life and work of artists. |
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